Let me stab you...."Just as a precaution"

(for those of you who asked about the hospital story... hold on to your nickers... it's a long one...) Okay so like three nights ago Lucas was sitting on enos' lap all wrapped up in two blankets and i come into the room and i'm like... "jeez it's hot in here!" Then i go over and sit next to Enos and feel Lucas' head because it was 9pm and he hadn't wanted to eat since 3pm....and when i feel it...it's pretty hot. So i'm like... Should we take his temp? and enos is like, Sure why not. So we do. And it's 100.8 I was like... uhh... that's not good... i'll call the on call pediatrician at Lucas' doctor's office since it's late. So we call him and he tells us to unwrap him and let him cool down for a while and then take his temp again. When we do this his temp drops down to 100.4 Not a whole lot of difference.... The ped tells us that since he is so young we should have him checked out by his pedi the next day, "just as a precaution" (this is a phrase i would learn to HATE over the next 3 days). At this point neither of us are worried... we're just kinda shocked that anything was wrong to begin with...... So later that night (about an hour)... he starts eating again and even downs like 4 oz. So we are a LOT less worried....and the next morning i check his temp and it's fine.. normal. I still go to the pedi though since the on call dr. told us to. When i take him into the pedi's office, she says... "well he looks great.. his coloring is good, he's eating again, he's acting normal right?" "yep... he's acting just fine".... okay well.. normally i wouldn't worry since everything is looking good... but JUST AS A PRECAUTION... why don't you take him to Primary Children's and have him checked out. I was like...alright...i mean, it's out of the way but i'm not busy today anyway and maybe i can have lunch with enos when i'm done since it's kinda up by his work....boy was i ever WRONG. I drove up there and take him to the ER because that's what i was told to do... they ask me a bunch of questions and then print up this little wrist band for him and i'm thinking.. huh... he's only gonna be here a few hours...but whatever. NOBODY told me that it was standard procedure for them to take in children this young and watch him overnight... oh.. but i'd find this out later in a very irritating way. So then they weigh him and all that and have me sit back in the waiting room until they call us into the back. Then THIS is when the mayhem starts... (please remember... i'm postpardom right now, okay?... yeah. SUPER emotional). So we go into this little room and they start telling me all the tests they are gonna do... they need a urine sample, blood samples and then do a SPINAL TAP. Ouch!... but i understand... i mean, we gotta find out what's wrong with this kid... if anything is anymore... (remember... NO FEVER, acting fine)....Then they say... and JUST AS A PRECAUTION we're gonna keep him overnight and monitor him. wait.... WHAT? overnight? no no no.. i just got him home like 2 weeks ago and now you're telling me he has to go through all that testing and crap and be all wired up to machines, AGAIN when he doesn't even have a temp anymore? NO. I tell them very bluntly, all the time knowing i look like that crazy mother who is blindly protecting her baby, "I don't want to do that. I'm calling my husband." Of course there is absolutely NO reception in this stupid room so i have to go out into the hall and leave my naked baby with these nurses. "Can we go ahead and start the tests while you're on the phone?" I was like... "okay.. i guess so"....thinking i can get them to let him go home after they get the samples they need. I call enos and he's shocked that they wanna keep him overnight too and asks me to talk to them. So i go back into the room and try to start negotiating to them asking why do i have to keep him there? Can't you just do your cultures and get back to me and i'll bring him back in if there's any problem with the results? "No, sorry Ma'am... that's standard procedure... and it's really just a precaution we like to take"... really? precaution? I hate you. So after a lot (i mean A LOT) of crying and having enos come up there for moral support... i finally accept that they are gonna make him stay overnight. I mean, right? They'll take care of him. I was beginning to calm down...but i didn't know that this was a LEARNING hospital.... what does this mean? it means that a bunch of med students and learning nurses were going to be doing all of the work. You know what this means, right? MISTAKES.... LOTS of mistakes. First there was the IV.... after searching for half an hour (seriously) for a vein to use in his arm... she pokes lucas... not once, not twice but THREE TIMES in his little hand and doesn't even get the IV in. So she has to call in the experts.. the IV team. Ugh. They got it in without a hitch. THEN... there was the spinal tap... honestly... if they are so keen on "taking precautions" why the HELL do they let an inexperienced doctor practice on my baby? She pokes lucas' back the first time and immediately i could tell something wasn't right... Lucas got STRAIGHT as a board and really red and started tensing up and crying in this voice i'd never heard before... like PAIN and ANGER.... but that doesn't stop her.. for what felt like an eternity, she lets the spinal fluid drip out VERY slowly, AND trying to poke a SECOND time.... finally says... "i'm just not getting enough.. i'm going to have to call in my supervising dr." WHAT? you mean, YOU are a resident TOO!??! HONESTLY. Then of COURSE.. the REAL doctor comes in and does it with lucas not even making a PEEP... i don't think he even noticed... WOW... stupid.. Ugh... well.. there is a lot more pain and crying to this story from MY end but i don't know how to express it... i just felt really frustrated because i felt like in my heart of hearts that Lucas was FINE and that he didnt' need to be there but since THIS person said to take a precaution and then THIS person took a precaution.. it just snowballed until a perfectly healthy baby ended up in the ER hooked up to machines. The night lasted FOREVER and of course they had to check his vitals every TWO hours so the poor boy never got a very good sleep,.... and neither did i because guess who had to put him to sleep every time they woke him up? that's right. oh and did i mention the how i got asked the same questions fifty times? YEAH. Freaking communicate to each other!!!!! I swear, i was so irritated because the nurses would be like, "wow.. he's eating really good and he doesn't have a temperature!" all proud, and i'm like... "yeah.. he hasn't had a fever since last night and he's been eating like a horse ever since..." Enos had to work the next day so i stayed with Lucas...I couldn't have NOT stayed with him though... that would have just been TOO sad. Well... after all was said and done... surprise surprise... the cultures came back clean accept for something called paraflu, which.. because he didn't have a temp anymore wasn't serious and couldn't be treated with anything. In fact, one of the REAL doctors even told me that he wouldn't have been admitted with paraful because there is nothing they can do to help it when he's fine and has no fever....HOW ANNOYING. At least that explains the temperature he had...but honestly.. i wish i had just NOT taken him to the pedi the next day... or at least WAITED to call the on call dr. to see how the fever panned out. Now i know. I mean, don't think i'm a terrible mother but i just feel like it was a lot of fuss for nothing and poor lucas had to be poked and prodded WAY too much by retarded people...he seemed stressed the whole time. I could relate. Oh well.. it's over now. I'm so glad to be home. Next time i'll wait til morning to call the doctor, "JUST AS A PRECAUTION"